COP30: Critical taking stock 10 years on from the Paris Agreement

COP30 in Belém do Pará (Brazil) ended with a mixed result: progress on some fronts, but with important gaps that are still undermining the path towards the goal of 1.5 ºC. One of the main milestones of the summit – which coincided with the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement – was the unveiling the new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) which sought to increase the ambition of the earlier ones. Even though many countries bolstered their commitments, the overall level of ambition continues to be insufficient to meet to the climate emergency.

One of the most visible aspects was the spotlight on the Amazon region and tropical forests. The Brazilian presidency was the driving force behind agreements aimed at bolstering their protection against deforestation and at mobilising specific funding; however, differences between countries meant that agreement was not reached on certain mechanisms. Progress was also made in the areas of adaptation, losses and damages, but the associated funding continues to be a far call from the recently estimated needs; that generates ongoing tension between the more industrialised countries and the less industrialised and more vulnerable ones.

Maria José Sanz, scientific director at BC3, will analyse those results and what they imply for international climate architecture in the current complex geopolitical context. The progress made will be discussed, along with the pending areas and the challenges that will affect negotiations in the coming years, particularly as regards the energy transition, climate funding and protecting strategic ecosystems, such as the tropical biomass, like the Amazon.